Wednesday, April 11, 2007

In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabeteswere given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

Stem cell research. A hot topic in this country, but in this case it is different. The stem cells are not from fetuses or cord blood, but rather from the patient.

All but two of the volunteers in the trial, details of which are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), do not need daily insulin injections up to three years after stopping their treatment regimes.

This is a major breakthrough. One that will be watched here and elsewhere.

In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabeteswere given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

Stem cell research. A hot topic in this country, but in this case it is different. The stem cells are not from fetuses or cord blood, but rather from the patient.

All but two of the volunteers in the trial, details of which are published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), do not need daily insulin injections up to three years after stopping their treatment regimes.

This is a major breakthrough. One that will be watched here and elsewhere.